One Month Replacement
by Eden Ann Stark
Summary: Lisbon pays the price for Jane's methods.
1. Chapter 1

AN: Let me know if you find any mistakes.

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One-Month Replacement

Agent Teresa Lisbon felt completely drained; the CBI's number of cases was on the rise, and that meant paperwork was on the rise. For a week now, she'd been forced to come in early and stay late just to keep up with it. Of course, the only reason behind this arrangement wasn't the CBI's caseload; it was the antics of ex-psychic Patrick Jane. He'd been increasingly 'daring' as of late, and it was really starting to get on her nerves.

She sighed and leaned back in her chair. The CBI's cases weren't going to burn her out; it was joining to be Patrick Jane.

Her ringing phone broke the silence, and Lisbon closed her eyes in pain. She had the beginnings of a killer migraine, and the obnoxious, shrill ringing wasn't helping.

"Lisbon," she answered brusquely. "Chief, y– I'll be right down."

Lisbon quickly left her office, wondering why her boss wanted to see her so early. She mumbled greetings to her arriving team as she exited her unit's offices. She reached her boss' shortly thereafter, and walked in.

"Close the door behind you," he ordered. "Alright, Lisbon, the CBI's been having some problems lately."

"What do you mean? We've had more cases than ever – "

"I mean Jane. He's been pissing off the wrong people, and they're filing lawsuits against him and the CBI. It's not good for our reputation. The Director isn't happy about it."

"Does he want you to fire him?" Lisbon asked, fearing the worst. "We won't close as many cases without him. That's bad for our reputation too."

Her boss hesitated; it seemed as though informing her of the bad news was not something he was looking forward to doing.

"No, the Director is blaming you. He thinks you can't control your team. He's ordered me to put you on suspension, so he can bring in a new guy."

"What?" she exclaimed. "You know how Jane is. No one is going to be able to 'control' him."

"I know. I tried to get him to change his mind, but he wasn't having it. If the new guy doesn't work out, you'll probably be brought back in, and the Director will decide what changes need to be made."

"I can't believe this. I can't even stay as part of the team?" Lisbon inquired sharply, shock fading to anger.

"The Director doesn't want you undermining the other agent's authority."

"How long?"

"A month. He's starting today. You'll have to remove the personal affects from your office."

Lisbon left his office after that, barely refraining from slamming the door shut on her way out. She packed the few personal items she had into her purse, and logged her computer off; she left the paperwork strewn across her desk. The 'new guy' could deal with it.

The angry agent took a deep breath in an effort to calm herself before stepping out of her office to address her team. It wasn't very effective.

"What's up, Boss?" Rigsby asked upon seeing her face.

Unsure of how to proceed, Lisbon got straight to the point, "I'm being suspended."

Their astonishment was immediate; after they recovered, they all began asking questions at once. She answered them as calmly as she could, but her self-control started slipping when her boss entered with another man. He introduced him as Richard Caine. He was in his mid-forties with short, graying hair. The look on his face told Lisbon that he spent most of his time being an ass. The two stiffly shook hands before she briskly left the office area. She should have known that she would have run into Jane on the way out; it was the only way the day could get any worse.

"Good morning, Lisbon," he greeted, grinning.

"Thanks Jane," she snapped back.

It was petty and she shouldn't have said it, but she was extremely irritated that she was being held responsible for the stunts he pulled without her knowledge. She brushed past him, missing the rarely seen puzzled expression on his face.

Jane walked in, noticing at once the tension in the air.

"Ah, you must be Patrick Jane."

"Yes, I am," he answered, extending his hand. "And you are?"

"Richard Caine. Your new boss," he added while shaking Jane's hand.

Jane didn't need to be a mentalist to piece together the situation; he must have been the reason behind Lisbon's departure. Jane didn't say anything more, and headed towards his couch. He was just starting to get comfortable when the team's new 'leader' spoke up.

"It'd be great if you could join us, Mr. Jane," Caine said in a tone that suggested it wasn't Jane's choice.

"Right. Of course, Richie," he responded, his infamous smile in place.

"Mr. or Agent Caine."

"My mistake. It won't happen again Mr. or Agent Caine," he replied, still grinning.

Caine's face had grown increasingly angry, and he looked as if he was about to tear into Jane, but he was saved by the new hire that alerted the team they had a new case. Cho, Rigsby, and Van Pelt all volunteered to go check it out, and when it became clear that Caine would be joining them, they all offered to stay behind to catch up on paperwork. In the end, all three were ordered to go to the crime scene; they, excluding Jane, played rock, paper, scissors to determine who would be riding with their new boss. After winning, Van Pelt and Cho flipped a coin to decide the consultant's fate. As it turned out, Rigsby was the only one that was riding with Caine.

The crime scene was a popular restaurant that was placed on the line separating police jurisdictions. It didn't help matters that the victim was local district attorney, Jeff Briggs. Before it became an all-out feud between precincts, one of the commissioners called in the CBI.

As the team walked towards the restaurant, it became clear as to why all of them had been ordered to the crime scene. There was a substantial group of people crowded on the police side of the yellow tape, and they would all have to give statements. The steakhouse was large on the inside; the CBI agents would have to, at the very least, give a cursory glance of the scene.

"Where's the body?" Cho asked a nearby officer.

He led them to a far back corner. The victim was leaning back in his chair, and it appeared as though his face was covered in his soup. He was middle-aged and well dressed.

Van Pelt stared quizzically at the victim, "What's all over his face?"

"His soup. When we got here, he was face down in it," the young officer informed her.

"Was he here with anyone?" Rigsby questioned.

The officer pointed to a young blonde woman in a black dress, and Caine ordered Rigsby to go talk to her.

"He was married," Jane announced. "And that woman is not his wife."

"How do you know that?" Van Pelt asked.

"He has tan line from a wedding band," Jane said, pointing towards the man's left hand. "If that woman was his wife, he wouldn't have taken it off."

Cho's phone interrupted the conversation, and he moved off to the side to take the call.

"Cho," he answered. "Hey, how are you?"

"It's going just as you would imagine. Jane doesn't play well with others," he responded after a short pause.

Jane moved near Cho, "That's Lisbon isn't it? Let me have the phone."

The consultant could hear his 'former' boss telling Cho not to give him the phone as he took it from his colleague's hand.

"Hello Lisbon."

"I don't want to talk to you, Jane. Give the phone back to Cho."

"If you want to know what I'm doing you should just call me," he responded, grinning.

Lisbon's sigh crackled through the phone, "Fine. What are you doing?"

"Detective work. Were you happy or annoyed that I wasn't 'being nice' to our new boss?"

Lisbon hung up, and Jane, smiling, handed the phone back to Cho. The agents went through the process of investigating the scene, speaking with witnesses, and getting information from the police and forensics team. They spent at least a couple of hours at the crime scene before Caine ordered Rigsby and Jane to go talk to the wife, after the claim about an affair was affirmed by the mistress. Caine, Van Pelt, and Cho headed back to CBI head quarters to look into the criminals Briggs had put away. Later Cho drove to the D.A.'s office to talk to his co-workers.

When all four members of the original CBI team were together again, they couldn't help but feel irritated. The Director's decision to suspend Lisbon wasn't a good one. The team felt disconnected, and Caine only knew how to bark commands; he wasn't helping their investigative methods. He was hindering it. The man didn't give any credence to any of Jane's hunches, and as a result, they had hit a wall.

"This is so stupid," Rigsby complained, eyeing Lisbon's old office; he didn't want Caine hearing his remark.

"I know," Van Pelt sighed.

"Hey, where are you going?" Cho asked Jane, he had just risen from his couch, and was heading towards the exit.

Jane didn't respond before leaving the CBI. After a short drive, he reached his destination, and he entered the building. He took an elevator to the correct floor, and knocked on door 209. The door swung open to reveal an annoyed Teresa Lisbon.

"What do you want, Jane?"

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Thoughts?


	2. Chapter 2

AN: Thank you for all the reviews! Let me know if you find any mistakes.

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Chapter 2

"Aren't you going to invite me in?" Jane asked, smirking.

Lisbon glared at her ex-consultant, and briefly considered slapping it off his face before dismissing the ridiculous thought, and letting him into her apartment. He walked in, and immediately began looking around; using his mentalist abilities to obtain more information about her no doubt. It irritated her.

"Quit snooping. Do you want anything to drink?"

"Water's fine."

Lisbon headed towards the kitchen, and Jane made himself comfortable on her couch. She returned a moment later, handed him a bottle of water, and sat down in the chair to his right.

"Been eating a lot of ice cream lately?" Jane teased, motioning towards an empty bowl setting next to some manila folders; it was no secret, at least to him, that Lisbon took copies of the unsolved cases home. "I think you're supposed to return these when you're let go."

"I haven't been fired yet," she retorted as she snatched the file he had grabbed off the table from his hands; he didn't need to know which ones kept her awake.

"You don't have to be worried about getting fired; Caine's a fool," he informed her, infamous smile in place.

"This is serious, Jane. Even if I do get my job back, there's no guarantee the team will stay together," Lisbon said. "Just tell me why you're here; I'm not in the mood for any games."

"Your fool of a replacement is the reason I'm here. If he stays in charge of the investigation, it's going to be another file you have to take home."

"I can't get involved, Jane. If I do, I'll definitely lose my job."

"Sometimes you have to break the rules, Lisbon."

She ran a hand through her hair, trying to decide what to do. She closed her eyes and sighed. The air had barely left her lungs when Jane, grinning, handed her a case file, seemingly from out of nowhere.

"I knew you'd do it."

Lisbon shot him a look before opening the thin file, "Have you guys even gotten any information? This is all basic stuff."

"Now you know the situation we're in. Caine's more of a control freak than you; he does nothing but try to dominate every aspect of the case. He's stifling."

"I am not a 'control freak'," Lisbon remarked. "I assume you haven't been allowed to do anything?"

"He's harboring a grudge," Jane answered, shrugging.

Lisbon vainly tried to fight off a smile, "Have any of the D.A.'s criminals been released?"

"One is out on parole. Briggs hasn't been working very long, and most of the people he's put away for an extended period of time aren't even close to the end of their sentences."

"Why hasn't anyone talked to the parolee?"

"We were instructed to wait. Caine had a another very _important_ matter to deal with," Jane said, disdain evident in his voice.

"Call the team, and have Cho find out if forensics has anything. Tell Rigsby and Van Pelt to look up the D.A.'s past case records. We'll have to see if any of them have any reach outside of prison."

"Where are you going?"

"To get ready. I'm breaking the rules already; I'm not going to stay on the sidelines."

"It didn't take much to get you going . . . " Jane trailed off, pretending to be lost in thought. "It hasn't even been a full day, you already miss me that much?"

"What? No. _No_, you're the one that asked me for my help."

"You're blushing."

Lisbon didn't have any other comeback aside from, 'No, I'm not!' so she quickly turned away from him, and headed towards her bedroom. She was ready a few moments later, and they left her apartment to go talk to the parolee.

"I'll be driving."

"No you're not."

"You don't have access to a CBI vehicle anymore, Lisbon. And when's the last time you put gas in your personal car?"

"Today. I'll be driving."

"Really?" Jane asked; he had been sure that her car's tank would be near empty.

Lisbon avoided his eyes for a second as she responded, "Yep, so get in."

As she pumped gas into her car, Jane called out to her from inside the car, "I knew you were lying about the gas."

She put the nozzle back, took her receipt from the pump, and got back into the car.

"So this is one of those times where you let think me I got away with lying to you?"

"I thought it would be a nice gesture since I got you suspended," Jane told her, laughing lightly.

"It doesn't count if you're going to have to make sure you knew I was lying," Lisbon shot back as she was pulling out of the gas station's parking lot.

The rest of the ride was spent in silence, but neither of them felt the least bit awkward. They walked up to the halfway house their potential suspect was living in, and the ex-senior agent automatically reached for her badge. She let out a puff of air in annoyance when she realized it wasn't there.

"You do the talking," she instructed him.

The mentalist and landlord talked briefly, and although he looked as if he didn't believe Jane's story that they were friends of Andy Scott, most of his friends weren't so clean-cut, he led them up to his room.

"Hey, Andy! You've got some visitors," the landlord yelled through the door.

"Open it," Lisbon said when there wasn't an answer, forgetting for a moment that she didn't have the power to order him to do anything.

The landlord opened the door anyway, though, to reveal Andy Scott's dead body.

"Holy, shit!" the landlord exclaimed.

"Jane, give me your phone."

He didn't hand over his phone, but instead called the CBI himself. Lisbon glared at no one in particular as she was reminded yet again of her complete lack of control over the situation. She did her best to calm down and maintain a professional composure before looking into the apartment to gather what information she could without going in.

"This place is a mess; whoever killed him wanted something pretty bad," she stated.

"Briggs was probably killed by some type of poison, and this man doesn't appear to have any external injuries; the same person might have poisoned them both."

"That's a leap . . . I can't imagine that their social circles would have overlapped much – " the rest of Lisbon's response was cut off by the appearance of Caine, Rigsby, and Cho as well as a few local policemen and a forensics team.

"Hello, Ms. Lisbon," he greeted. "What are you doing here?"

The suspended leader's eyes narrowed at the lack of the title 'agent' before her name, and his dismissive and condescending tone.

"_Senior Agent_ Lisbon is here as an unofficial consultant, Caine," Jane offered patronizingly, purposely emphasizing her title and neglecting his.

Caine stared angrily at the man's smiling face, unwilling to reprimand him in front of so many people.

"I trust next time you will ask for my consent before bringing in an 'unofficial consultant'?" he ground out.

"My apologies. Certainly," Jane agreed, false smile still in place.

"We can handle it from here," Caine abrasively told Lisbon.

She wanted to snap back at the man the Director had appointed, but she reluctantly held her tongue. Upon seeing Cho and Rigsby's furious expressions, she told them to 'hang in there' as she left the area. Jane, ignoring his incompetent new boss, accompanied her.

"Call me when you're done here; I'll come pick you up. We can talk about the case then," Lisbon instructed when they were out of eyesight.

Jane nodded, and headed back to the crime scene while she unenthusiastically climbed into her car to leave. She'd only been at her apartment for half an hour when Minelli called, and he was yelling so loudly, she had to hold the phone away from her ear. Apparently, it didn't take Caine very long to tattle. Fortunately enough, however, her month-long suspension wasn't going to be prolonged, and her status wasn't changing from 'suspended' to 'fired.' But Minelli had made it very clear that she was not to continue meddling in the case. In spite of the warning, Lisbon couldn't resist being involved now, so she was anxiously anticipating Jane's phone call. When her phone finally did ring, it barely made it past the first chime before it was flipped open.

"Lisbon."

"Eagerly awaiting my call, Lisbon?" he asked, and she could practically hear his grin through the phone. "How close was your phone to you?"

"What did you find?" she deflected.

"It was quite interesting; first, Cho told me that Briggs was killed with scopolamine. The M.E. found a large amount of it in his stomach contents, and forensics found traces in his wine glass."

"Scopolamine? Isn't that used as a truth serum?"

"Sometimes, it makes the victim very docile; they can be forced to do anything, but it's also used medicinally as well," he informed her. "There were two glasses, and a half empty bottle of single malt in Scott's apartment – "

"He was most likely poisoned as well," Lisbon finished. "Did any of his neighbors see anyone going to or leaving his apartment?"

"No, no one here saw anything, and they don't know about any valuable items Scott had in his possession," Jane sighed. "And even if they did know something, they're not going to tell us. Not with that fool bearing down on them like he's going to attack. I swear he has no idea how to interview – "

"Did Van Pelt ever turn anything up about the prisoners?" she interrupted, not wanting to listen to him rant.

"No, Briggs' never prosecuted anyone in the big leagues."

"Well, there aren't very many people that could've poisoned Briggs, and scopolamine isn't readily available; let's start with him. The restaurant he was killed in was popular. They probably keep a list of reservations or of people waiting to be seated. Get that, and have the team make sure everyone gave a statement, and see if any of them would have access to the poison. Re-interview the wife and the mistress. Maybe we'll be able to turn something up."

"It's going to be tough to hide all that investigating from Caine, even if he is an idiot."

"Are you saying you can't do it?" she challenged.

"Of course not. It's just going to make solving this case that much more fun," he countered. "Aren't you going to come pick me up?"

"I'm on the way."

"No, you're not; you're still sitting on your couch looking over the file."

"Fine. I'm leaving right now."

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AN: My information on scopolamine might have been incorrect or a little fuzzy, but for the purpose of this story, can we just pretend it works the way I wrote? I'd _really_ appreciate it. ;)

Thoughts?


	3. Chapter 3

AN: So sorry this took so long. I was busy with school, and then I fell into this writing rut. Thank you very much to BottleOfStars for bringing it up because this story had been on the backburner (the way, way back) for quite a while. Anyways, I really hope that this next installment is at least somewhat worth the wait. And let me know if you find any mistakes; I didn't do my best proofreading job. Because I hate it. :)

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Chapter 3

Jane strolled into the CBI offices the next day smiling, as usual. When he'd called the team the previous night, they'd been too busy with reports, and Caine had been hovering around their desks. They couldn't escape to do any real investigating. By the time they left work, it had been too late to fulfill most of Lisbon's orders, and she had ordered them to wait. Everyone was at their desks working, it looked, but the area was unusually quiet and tense.

"Good morning," he greeted.

"Hey man," Rigsby replied. "You should have seen Caine after you left yesterday and didn't come here. He was pissed."

"Really?" Jane asked innocently, and Rigsby laughed. "Where is he by the way?"

"Minelli's office," Cho answered, and Jane pulled out his cell phone.

"You're in the clear, Lisbon," he told her, turning the speakerphone on. "Your adversary is busy at the moment."

She and the team exchanged greetings before getting down to business.

"Tox came back on Scott, boss, he was poisoned the same way as Briggs a few hours before," Cho informed her.

"I called the restaurant earlier, and they faxed over their party list; we've been comparing it to the witness statements," Van Pelt added. "Everybody's checked out so far."

"Alright, Rigsby, I want you and Van Pelt to re-interview the wife –"

"I don't think that's necessary," Jane commented.

"And why is that?"

"I was there the first time she was questioned. She didn't do it. Neither did the mistress for that matter."

"You don't know that. The mistress was at the restaurant; she could have poisoned him," she protested, ignoring his comment about the wife; it actually was very unlikely that she committed the murders.

"But she didn't."

"And how exactly do you know that?" Lisbon asked, not even making an attempt to hide the annoyance in her voice.

"Eh, she's not the killer type."

"I thought you didn't get to question her?"

"I didn't. Rigsby did. It's a very difficult thing to explain, Lisbon."

Her exasperated sigh crackled through the phone before she continued, "Cho, did anything seem odd with Briggs' co-workers?"

"No, everyone said he was good-natured, no enemies, but he kept to himself mostly."

"Was he working on a case?"

"His colleagues said he hadn't had a new case in a few weeks, but he was always busy. I didn't find any files in his office that were dated recently, and there weren't any notes there to indicate he was working on anything new," he answered. "The techs are still working on his laptop; apparently, they're really busy, and it isn't a simple encryption."

"Call down there, and push it."

"Right away, boss."

"What do you want us to do?" Rigsby questioned.

"Keep checking the guest list with statements, and let me know if you find any potential suspects."

"That's it?" he responded.

"Rigsby, I'm not your boss anymore; I can't order you guys to go out into the field. I shouldn't even be involved at all. No one else needs to be suspended or fired . . . just let me know about the list," Lisbon said, voice slightly dispirited, and hung up before there were any more arguments.

Jane slipped his phone into his pocket, and explained, "She's not used to not playing by the rules. Well, I'll be going."

He left the bullpen before the team could confirm he was going to Lisbon's. They still felt as if they were sailing along without a captain, even though Lisbon was giving unofficial orders from afar. It just wasn't the same when she wasn't truly at the helm.

Jane pulled into her parking lot shortly after leaving the CBI, and called her to let her know he was there. She came out of her building only moments later, seemingly confused by the fact he was still in his car, and it was running.

"I'm driving!" Jane called out.

Lisbon walked up to the driver's side, adamantly shaking her head no.

"Yes. I let you drive yesterday," he answered, grin full force.

She glared at him for a minute before resigning, and getting into the car. She eyed the old seatbelts warily before buckling herself in.

"It's safe."

"I'm sure," she retorted. "Let's go to the restaurant."

Jane nodded, and pulled out of the parking lot, smirking all the while because she had heeded his suggestion.

The eatery had been released as a crime scene early yesterday; forensics had already swept the place, and the manager had insisted on badgering Caine. The local police had been fine with it; he'd buckled under the pressure.

They walked into the restaurant moments later, slightly surprised by the large amount of people, and were greeted enthusiastically by the hostess.

"We're not here to eat; we have some questions regarding the homicide that occurred here a few days ago."

The hostess' happy exterior quickly faded away, "Oh, I – do you want me to get the manager?"

"Were you working that night," Jane paused, looking at her nametag. "Angela?"

"N – no, I wasn't. I really should get my boss."

"Did you know anyone who was working?" he interjected before Lisbon could tell the girl to get the manager.

"My boyfriend was," she answered, growing increasingly anxious; she was fiddling with the necklace she was wearing, apparently subconsciously. "I need to go – "

This time Lisbon interrupted Angela, "Do you know anything about what happened here?"

"No, I don't," she hurriedly answered, shifting her gaze form one to the other. "I swear."

Jane placed a hand on her shoulder, speaking in a soft, comforting tone, "It's a criminal offense to withhold information about a crime from the police, Angela. If you are, Agent Lisbon here will be forced to arrest you. You don't want that do you?"

The girl shook her head, but she seemed unwilling to tell them anything.

"You don't have to be scared, Angela. We can protect you," he further persuaded, and it was enough to get her to talk.

"M – my boyfriend, Jack, has a lot of medical bills, and he just doesn't have the money to pay 'em. About a week ago, he got some stuff in the mail, and he said the hospital was going to sue him – " she broke off.

"Yes?"

"I shouldn't be talking about this."

"You have to tell us what you know," Jane prodded.

"Before that guy got killed, Jack said that he'd come into some money; he'd said that he was going to be able to get rid of his debt. But he wouldn't tell me where the money came from. He told me that it wasn't important. Then that guy was murdered here, and – "

"You did great," he assured.

"Where's your boyfriend now?"

"Out back, smoking."

The two headed off in the direction Angela had pointed, and Lisbon instructed Jane to call the CBI and the police, so they could bring Jack in. He was still on the phone when Lisbon walked out into the alley, and he hung back in order the finish the call. Lisbon caught the tail end of an argument Jack was having with a much older man before he was alerted to her presence.

"This is only half of what you promised! Where the f – "

"CBI. We just have a few questions."

Jack seemed torn between staying and running away, but the old man ordered him to stay as he pulled out a gun. Lisbon's hand involuntarily shifted to where her holster usually before she consciously stilled it, and grit her teeth, putting up her hands. She was about to try and diffuse the situation when Jane moved out of the doorway.

"Lisbon he has a gun," he whispered, raising his hands.

"I know that," she snapped back, quietly.

"Who the hell are you?" the old man asked.

"CBI."

"Look no one has to get hurt here," Lisbon said, voice cool and collected; she was, by all accounts, unruffled by their current situation.

"Save it. Is there anyone else?"

They shook their heads, and he waved them into a black Cadillac Escalade. He forced the gun into Jack's hands, telling him to keep an eye on them. He protested at first, and Lisbon and Jane were able to catch the old man's name: Vincent. They didn't hear what Vincent said to him, but whatever it was, it made Jack scramble into the car, and point the gun at them.

"Look, Jack, you don't need to do as he says," Lisbon told him.

Vincent took his cold eyes off the road long enough to glower at her as he gave her his warning, "Shut the hell up or Jacky here is going to blow your goddamn brains out. Isn't that right Jack?"

The anger that had been in the young man's face in alley had completely disappeared, and his face was full of fear as he gave a barely discernable nod. Jane glanced at her out of the corner of his eye, slightly surprised at her stony-faced exterior. There were no traces of the anxiety that he knew was evident in his own expression.

Lisbon might have been suspended, but she was still a CBI agent, and agents didn't lose their cool in situations like these.

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Thoughts?


End file.
